I. CHRIST AS THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH
REVEALED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY
Isaiah 52:13—53:12 reveals Christ as the Servant of Jehovah not in the Old Testament economy but in the New Testament economy. The Christ who is revealed in these verses is not great or powerful. Isaiah 53:2 says that He grew up like a tender plant and like a root out of dry ground. Isaiah 52:13 says that Christ as the Servant of Jehovah will act wisely and will prosper, implying that He will accomplish great things. However, according to Isaiah’s poetic writing in verse 14, many were astonished at Christ because His appearance and His form were marred. They were astonished because they did not expect a servant of God to be a marred one, a disfigured one, as Christ was.
A. Acting Wisely and Prospering
in the Pleasure of Jehovah
Isaiah 52:13a and 53:10b say that Christ will act wisely and will prosper in the pleasure of Jehovah. From the day that He came out to minister on this earth, the Lord Jesus acted wisely and prospered in God’s pleasure.
First, the Father’s pleasure was that the Son would go to the cross and die for His chosen people. In Gethsemane the Lord Jesus prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). Later, as He was being arrested, He told His disciples, "The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). Because the Lord Jesus prospered in God’s pleasure, God the Father could say, "This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight" (Matt. 3:17).
Christ entered into death and then rose up from death to enter into resurrection. Through this, God the Father begot many sons. This too is the Father’s pleasure, and it is also Christ’s prosperity in His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection was not only a matter of His rising out of death. In Christ’s resurrection millions of God’s chosen people were born. Although we were not yet born, we all were regenerated two thousand years ago, when Christ resurrected. This is the wisdom by which Christ as the Servant of Jehovah acted wisely. Christ acted wisely not according to the Old Testament economy but according to the New Testament economy. From the first day of His ministry until the day of His resurrection, the Lord Jesus did nothing according to the Old Testament economy. Rather, He did everything according to the New Testament economy.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 49, by Witness Lee)
